Brett Sadgrove wrote:
Hello,
I was thinking/dreaming about getting a junk built here in New Zealand. Has anyone had experience with this? I was thinking of the JDP 9M Minijonque. I do not have the space/shelter and the mental fortitude to complete such a task, so was thinking about getting one built. I know that the marine industry is insanely expensive, but thought I'd just see if anyone has been through this experience.
Hello Brett,
There are quite good designs available at around the 9 metre or shorter length. Annie's new build is a good example, and there is a smaller version of my own boat. I would probably disagree with Annie about carvel construction, being a fan of plywood and epoxy boats, and the longevity of properly built boats which have been coated with epoxy, but Annie is right about the huge amount of time involved, but that applies to any well built boat. I also wonder how easy it would be to get good quality timber at anything like a reasonable cost in the quantity required for carvel construction. Strip plank construction is another way of building a boat which does not require such good quality timber but once again there is a lot of glue work involved, and usually sheathing with fibreglass on the exterior at least.
Any custom built boat is going to cost a great deal of money. It would almost be better to look for a an existing boat which you could retrofit to a junk rig, but those are hard to find which I think is the reason Annie is building from scratch. You could also purchase an existing junk rig yacht such as Paul Thompson's La Chica which is a very well sorted boat and is currently for sale.
I see on your Profile that you are keen to do some junk rig sailing. I would be happy to take you out anytime which might help you get some idea of what these junks are all about.